CO-sponsor question

[Tunaa 0]

Last year my fiance did not make enough to meet the poverty guideline, he was part time and had a lower salary last year.

Late last year he got a promotion, was bumped up to full-time and increased salary. He will meet the poverty guidelines easily this year.

My question is this, we want to use a co-sponsor just in case it is denied because last year he did not make enough, he has spoken with his parents and they have agreed to be sponsors. Is is possible to use BOTH his parents and their combined income? If so, does each one have to fill out a separate I-864?

[payxibka 10,045]

moving to:

US Embassy and Consulate Discussion

This is the place to post your experiences or questions related to this last step before moving to the US. Topics relating to I-134's, packets sent from consulate and medical & police certificates should be posted here.

[Audy_Rob 26]

No, only one person can be the joint sponsor for the I-134. I know somebody that will come by and say you can have many joint sponsors...etc... but what he means is they will only look at the one that is qualified no matter how many you submit.

You must select the parent with the hifgher income and have that income documented. Get pay stubs for current income this year, use one to three years tax forms or tax transcripts, the more the safer. You will need to provide the W-2s of the joint sponsor parent to show how much their income is, you cannot use the combined income of two joint sponsors.

Good luck.

EDITED to add: You do not say it is a K-1 Visa but your timeline shows I-129F filings. If it is a K-1 visa, you should use the I-134, not the I-864.

Edited July 15, 2010 by Audy_Rob

[Tunaa 0]

I am confused, how can this be right?

We have researched and call the USCIS and NVC, and they told us we can definitely use two co-sponsors.

In the instructions, I read it as we can ie. use his father as our sponsor, and his mom as a joint sponsor, and it will write that he earns enough for me and my fiance and himself, and his mom for herself and his brother?

I am confused, and kind of worried, as none of his parents earned enough to support both me, my fiance, mom, dad and brother (and possible sister? She is 22 y/o).

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I am confused, how can this be right?

We have researched and call the USCIS and NVC, and they told us we can definitely use two co-sponsors.

In the instructions, I read it as we can ie. use his father as our sponsor, and his mom as a joint sponsor, and it will write that he earns enough for me and my fiance and himself, and his mom for herself and his brother?

I am confused, and kind of worried, as none of his parents earned enough to support both me, my fiance, mom, dad and brother (and possible sister? She is 22 y/o).

USCIS and NVC do not process non-immigrant visas. USCIS handles petitions for non-immigrant visas, and NVC has some minimal involvement in performing background checks and forwarding the petition to the consulate, but the consulate handles the actual visa application. For K visas, the foreign consulates use the I-134 (with very few exceptions). When making the "public charge" determination for a K visa, the consular officer has absolute discretion. Neither USCIS nor NVC has anything to say about it.

What USCIS and NVC told you about combining sponsors is true, under limited circumstances, with an I-864 affidavit of support. There are specific provisions for this, and even a special form for the contributing co-sponsor to sign - the I-864A. There are no provisions for this with an I-134. There is no I-134A. There is simply no way, using an I-134, to make it clear that there are two contributing co-sponsors who are combining income to qualify, and are eligible to do so under the rather narrow requirements imposed by the I-864. A consular officer wouldn't know if he/she was looking at combined sponsors who qualify, or two different co-sponsors who don't qualify on their own. I've never heard of a consulate allowing co-sponsors to combine income when an I-134 was being used.

When you want to ask specific questions about what will be acceptable with an I-134 and co-sponsors, then you need to direct your questions to the consulate. Each consulate has it's own policies about what it will or won't accept, and neither USCIS nor NVC will be able to tell you what those policies are.

[Tunaa 0]

Thank you for that!

I have tried contacting the embassy about this several times, and their answer is always short and doesn't really answer everything. They don't allow phone calls with questions about visa questions, so I can only e-mail them, and they seem te often leave a few answers out when I do. :/

This is the answer I have gotten:

During the interview, if the officer decides that the AOS does not meet the requirement, then we will need an Affidavit of Support from a joint sponsor. The joint sponsor will need to fill in a I-864, we will need a copy of the passport and tax return for 2009.

Another email

We need the original I-134. Affidavit of Support from your fiancé with employment letter and tax return and the co-sponsor will need to fill in the I-864 and we also need copies of passport and tax return for 2009 from the co-sponsor.

They know my case is a K1-visa, fiance visa, non-immigrant visa, but it seems they treat it like a immigrant visa?

They don't even ask for a lot of info from the co-sponsors, but we will be providing everything that the main sponsor, my fiance, is (employment letter, tax returns, pay stubs, bank statement)

And if what you're saying it true, and they ask us to use the I-864, then we should be OK to use two sponsors, correct?

Edited July 16, 2010 by Tunaa

[Audy_Rob 26]

Thank you for that!

I have tried contacting the embassy about this several times, and their answer is always short and doesn't really answer everything. They don't allow phone calls with questions about visa questions, so I can only e-mail them, and they seem te often leave a few answers out when I do. :/

This is the answer I have gotten:

Another email

They know my case is a K1-visa, fiance visa, non-immigrant visa, but it seems they treat it like a immigrant visa?

They don't even ask for a lot of info from the co-sponsors, but we will be providing everything that the main sponsor, my fiance, is (employment letter, tax returns, pay stubs, bank statement)

And if what you're saying it true, and they ask us to use the I-864, then we should be OK to use two sponsors, correct?

I do not think anyone will know the answer to that question. I know, you want someone to come along and say "Yes, you will be fine." In this situation no one should do so. While it seems clear they are requesting the joint sponsor to user the I-864, it is not clear that they will accept two joint sponsors to support an Alien Beneficiary for a K-1 visa, even if you think the Embassy knows you are asking in regard to the K-1 visa.

The difficulty is there is no way to combine joint sponsors and cover the income requirement of all the dependents you have mentioned. Unless you locate a different more qualified single joint sponsor, you cannot be certain of the particular interviewing Consular Officer's review of the total financial picture.

Good luck.